the world comes to life and everything's bright
by outruntheavalanche
Summary: [We're going back to Jakku. I can't believe we're going back to *Jakku*."] Finn/Rey, Finn & Poe. Romance, friendship, fluff.


Written for a prompt at **tfa_kink**.

* * *

"We're going back to Jakku. I can't believe we're going back to _Jakku_."

Finn glances over at Poe from the co-pilot's seat and reaches out to give him a gentle kick in the ankle. "Think that's my line. Anyway, it's important. You _said_ —"

"I know what I said." Poe waves a finger in the air haughtily.

"Just saying." Finn grins.

He knows Poe's not really upset, anyway. Not really. He's just arguing for show, because he's Poe Dameron, because he can. They're doing this for Rey. Poe would never be upset about something that important.

"Yeah, yeah," Poe mutters, and Finn can see the beginnings of a smile tug at the corners of his lips as he guides their starship to the waiting landing pad.

When the ship touches down, dust and exhaust billow and entangle in a swirling, dizzying dance. Finn quickly unbuckles himself from his seat and jumps to his feet, grabbing his jacket off the back of his chair.

"Hold on. Don't forget your—" Poe grabs Finn's blaster, checks that the safety's still on, and tosses it up to him. Finn catches it easily and slips it into the holster at his thigh.

"You coming with?" Finn asks, zipping up the jacket. He nods to Poe and then tilts his head toward the exit.

"This is something you've gotta do for yourself," Poe says, sobering all of a sudden, the smile tempering. "For her."

Finn has a half-formed protest on the tip of his tongue, but Poe just shakes his head and waves him off.

So he goes.

* * *

Rey's old home—if you could even call it that—has been picked clean, scavenged for parts. The bones of the AT-AT that served as her shelter lie under an unforgiving sun, scored by the claws of the wind.

Finn mops at the sweat dripping off his brow and down the back of his neck, into the collar of his jacket, and ducks under a torn, flapping curtain.

The scavengers have hardly left anything behind. Rey had described the place to him many times. It wasn't much, she'd told him once, as they lay together under the protective canopy of a great tree, linked their fingers, and looked up at the stars, but it was still home.

Finn's boots sink into soft sand and he fights the roil of his stomach, searching desperately for just one thing he can take back to Rey because she deserves it. Because he wants to be the one to give it to her.

A flash of orange catches in the corner of his eye and Finn whirls, spotting a tiny straw doll in an X-Wing pilot flightsuit. The uniform is handmade, with dropped stitches and clumsy lines, and Finn realizes Rey must have sewn it herself. He sets his blaster back in its holster and goes over to pick the doll up. It feels brittle in his hands and he cradles it gently, tucking it in an inner pocket in the lining of his jacket. The scavengers hadn't even considered the little doll worth scrapping for its parts.

Finn taps his commlink and static crackles over the line.

" _You found something?_ " Poe asks.

"Yeah," Finn says. "I'm starting back now."

* * *

Rey is waiting for them when they set down on the landing pad outside the main base. She has a— _look_ on her face, icy, stern. She's dressed in a long, gray robe and there is a single thin braid twined into one of her buns.

Finn breaks into a run and scoops Rey up in his arms before she has a moment to protest.

"Why did you go back to Jakku?" she asks, as he spins her, grasping onto his forearms. "I came back from training with Master Luke and the General told me you two had gone on a mission. To _Jakku_ , of all places!" She punches him gently on the arm.

Rey looks over Finn's shoulder to give Poe, he assumes, an equally unhappy look.

"This guy," Poe says, stepping up behind them and clapping a hand on Finn's shoulder, "got it in his head that he needed to get you a birthday gift."

"I told you both," Rey argues, as Finn sets her back on solid ground, "that I don't celebrate my birthday. At least not the actual date."

"When do you celebrate it, then?" Finn asks, as he pats at the lining of his jacket for Rey's doll.

"Every day," Rey says, touching his arm. She looks at Finn intently, offers him the slightest hint of a nod, her mouth curling.

Poe coughs delicately and steps around them, pausing just for a moment to give Rey an equally hearty clap on the shoulder. "You kids enjoy yourselves then. And happy birthday, Rey." He leans in, gives her a peck on the temple, and then heads off to the hangar.

Rey looks back at Finn, letting her tiny smile spread until her cheeks are dimpling. "No one's ever done anything like this for me before," she admits.

Finn's cheeks grow hot and he ducks his head, scuffs his heel on the ground. "I, um, I thought you'd like to have this." He pulls out the doll and holds it out to her with a—only slightly—trembling hand.

"Oh, _Finn_." Rey takes it from him with gentle fingers. "Oh."

When he looks at her again, he's alarmed to see tears gathering at the corners of her eyes. "Are you—was it—I could—"

"I love it." She holds the doll against her chest and leans in to press her lips against Finn's.

Finn's too startled to close his eyes. He's pretty sure that's not how a first kiss is supposed to go, he's supposed to close his eyes and have some idea of where to put his hands, and not be so stuttery and _awkward_ , but Rey doesn't seem to mind at all. After he can think again, once he's past the initial shock of _we're kissing we're finally_ kissing _stars and planets above this is everything I never knew I ever wanted_ , he guides a hand to her waist and pulls her against his chest.

When they finally separate, breathing hard, chests heaving, Finn cups her face in his hands. Her eyes are dark— _desire,_ Finn thinks, and he's well familiar with the weight and heft of that feeling, has felt it for some time—and her lips are wet, slightly parted. She reaches up and traces her fingers along his jawline.

Finn really just wants to kiss her again, never stop kissing her. Wants to kiss her until he sees stars behind his eyelids.

So he does.


End file.
